Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 2 Volume 9 | Page 35

WHEN YOU GOTTA GO,
YOU GOTTA GO
N EW “W HEN P IGS F LY ” S HORT S TORY S ERIES
R ON C ORBIN
R ONALD C ORBIN , A FORMER A RMY COMBAT HELICOPTER PILOT AND V IETNAM VETERAN BECAME A L OS A NGELES PO-
LICEMAN , AND EVENTUALLY A PILOT FOR LAPD’ S A IR S UPPORT D IVISION . AN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT CLAIMED THE LIFE OF A
ND
RD
PILOT TRAINEE AND PUT R ON IN THE HOSPITAL WITH 2 AND 3 DEGREE BURNS OVER 70% OF HIS BODY . N OT ONE TO BE
SLOWED DOWN , R ON WENT ON TO WRITE MULTIPLE AWARD - WINNING STORIES . W E NOW SHARE THEM FOR YOUR EN-
JOYMENT .
T
here was a new sergeant at Air Sup-
port who felt that one of the air crews
was wasting time; that they should be do-
ing more proactive patrol from the skies
and providing quicker responses to patrol
calls. In an effort to oversee what was actu-
ally being accomplished, one night this ser-
geant went on a ride-along with “Pilot
Jones” and “Observer Smith.”
Flying for two-plus hours at a time,
sometimes “Nature” calls. So when air
crews need to use a restroom, there are
fewer locations to take advantage of this
physiological function then there are for
street officers. There are no “porta potties”
floating around among the clouds. Landing
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE
at an airport is an option, but takes longer
for actual landing clearances and a dash for
the pilot’s lounge. The best options were
helipads on one of the newer police sta-
tions, but there were only a couple of these.
Terminal Annex, LA’s main postal building,
had a rooftop helipad with a stairwell door
leading to a small restroom. It was not
much larger than a commercial airplane
lavatory. This was the most convenient
place for air crews to use when flying in the
downtown area.
With over an hour left scheduled in the
patrol flight before returning to the main
heliport, the sergeant notified the pilot over
the intercom that he had eaten too many
P AGE 30
S UMMER 2019